Heavy winds damage Coas Bookstore in Las Cruces

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The high winds that swept through the Borderland Sunday damaged many homes and businesses, including a popular Las Cruces bookstore.

Coas Bookstore, which operates two locations in the city, had its store at 1101 S Solano Dr heavily damaged by the winds.

Portions of the roof were blown off the store, and pieces even made their way into nearby trees. The president of Coas told ABC-7 that the winds additionally knocked over an air conditioning unit on top of the store, and damaged a gas line.

"I got inside the building and I smelled gas," said Coas president Mike Beckett as he described what he saw as he witnessed the damage for the first time.

"Gas was just pouring out, I guess the gas line must've snapped. Thankfully the staff turned [the valves] off Saturday night, because if they had turned on, we probably would have had an explosion, which would have been a much bigger deal," he added.

Beckett says he doesn't have a price estimate for the damage yet as insurance agencies have not had a chance to asses it at this time, but he believes it will probably be "a lot."

"It's not just roofing material, it's decking and plywood, and everything's gone up, so any guess I'm sure I'll be low," Beckett said referring to his estimate.

Beckett says he can't give a proper timeframe of how long the Solano store will be closed for repairs, but says customers can still visit the other Coas location on N. Main St in downtown Las Cruces in the meantime.